Karnataka - Bangalore   

It was a sea of humanity

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Although Congress president Sonia Gandhi was scheduled to arrive at Palace Grounds, the venue of the rally by 1.10 p.m., thousands of people, who arrived here either on Saturday night or Sunday morning by government and private transport and trains, from all over the State, were seen thronging the venue by 9 a.m.

Congress workers from the respective districts were seen struggling to supply water cans and bottles, food packets and tricolour caps demanded by the people who accompanied them for the convention.

Organisers of the rally were heard repeatedly announcing that there was no need to panic and that water and food packets would be supplied continuously.

Good time for pickpockets

Pickpockets and mobile phone lifters had a field day as people had to pass through narrow passages between barricades put up to regulate the entry into the security zone. There were also complaints of women being molested and attempts at chain snatching.

Only select leaders such as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha K. Rahman Khan, Union Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, and presspersons and photographers were allowed into the security zone, 100 metres away from the dais.

The rally set a new tradition by jettisoning the traditional singing of prayer and the national anthem generally observed by the party in its public programmes.

The Congress MLA for Srinivasapura and former Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar found himself in an awkward position as Ms. Gandhi allowed him to translate only a couple of sentences into Kannada.

She completely ignored his presence as an interpreter as she continued to deliver her address in Hindi amid occasional disapproval of shouts from a section of the crowd.

While Ms. Gandhi was delivering her speech, many party workers near the dais were heard discussing politics and leaders sitting in the front row were seen distributing peppermints among themselves.

AICC general secretary B. K. Hariprasad issued a message to Siddaramaiah instructing the latter to curtail his speech even as the former Deputy Chief Minister was launching a frontal attack against the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and members of his family.

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